Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-389) and index.

UNEXPECTED LOVE -- Beginning to Trust -- Eleanor According to Hick -- Je T'aime et Je T'adore -- Lorena -- Eleanor -- Getaway -- BECOMING A TEAM -- Partnership -- La Presidenta and the Newshawk -- Getting Away with It -- Now or Never -- Blowing Off -- Looking for a Home -- TOGETHER AND APART -- Trading Jobs -- This Place! -- Time Tears On -- THE WORLD AT WAR -- Afraid No More -- A Better Politician Than Her Husband -- In Residence -- In It, Up to the Neck -- Risking Everything -- A Fight for Love and Glory -- Winning with the Women -- There Is Only One President -- The Greatest Catastrophe for the World -- STARTING OVER -- Sliding on Marble Floors -- The Opinion of Mankind -- A New Way to be Useful -- Living On.

In 1933, as her husband assumed the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt embarked on the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the First Lady with dread. Putting her deep disappointment in her marriage behind her, she had developed an independent life which was threatened by her new public role. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press, Lorena Hickok. Over the next thirty years, until Eleanor's death, the two women were, at different points, lovers, confidantes, professional advisors, and caring friends. Quinn provides a revealing look at how an unlikely romance influenced some of the most consequential years in American history.